"Truth or Ed" is the 12th episode of Season 5 and the 114th episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, Ed and Eddy take over the duties of the school newspaper after they see how bland and boring the current articles Double D is running are. To make the school newspaper more interesting, Eddy creates many false articles about the kids under a pen name, and the kids all enjoy the articles until they notice that they themselves have come under Bobby Blabby's gimlet tabloid eye.

Contents

Plot

Rolf and Kevin are choosing sides for a game of basketball–or at least trying to, as Eddy's consistent yammering about how they should pick him is starting to get on their nerves. Eventually, a fed up Rolf flings the ball at Eddy, shutting him up, and the sides are soon chosen, with Kevin picking up Jonny and Nazz and Rolf choosing Ed and Plank over Eddy. The game starts, and all is good and dandy until Ed accidentally pops the ball with his teeth, forcing the rest of the kids to head inside.

Ed and Eddy are left behind, but there's someone else there as well: Double D, who has just been assigned the post of editor of the school newspaper. He invites his friends to join him on the paper, and Ed readily comes along. Eddy rejects the offer, though, thinking it stupid–until he hears that the paper is sold to the student body.

When Edd shows Eddy the newsroom, he is unimpressed. This is underlined when Ed comes back and announces that nobody at all wanted to buy a paper. Eddy is at first surprised by this, but when he takes a gander at the junk that passes for "news" at the Peach Creek Jr. High Tattler, he isn't surprised at all. After all, while Edd may consider Jimmy's shortcake headline news, and while Sarah and Jimmy might agree with this assessment, there is no way that Kevin or anyone else in the student body would be caught dead reading about something that trivial. Even Edd is forced to admit that they haven't been having the best run of news, but of course, he has a lead on the scoop of the century: the knitting club plans to knit the world's largest doily!

Not wanting to waste time discussing the stupidity of such an endeavor, Eddy pretends to agree that this is good news and sends Edd out to follow up on his lead. With Edd out of the way, Eddy is free to scheme, and his plan is to turn the tiny rag into a money-machine. Without further ado, he writes up a piece of pulp fiction about the back of Ed's head housing a colony of mutants, and sets the printing press to stupid fast. Once a nice stack of papers has been collected, Eddy sends Ed out to sell them, and Ed walks away to showcase the stories of the one known as Bobby Blabby.

Outside in the hall, Ed happens upon Sarah and Jimmy and shows them a few articles. The first one they read announces that Nazz was kicked off of the cheerleading squad. The two are immediately interested and purchase a paper for a measly twenty-five cents. While they read, Ed moves on, not noticing when Sarah shrieks because one of the stories is about how she is part of a secret chimp-foghorn race.

While Sarah is having a conniption fit, Rolf has managed to put Wilfred into his clothes and send the pig in to take a test for him. Rolf has barely gotten away with his ruse when Ed accosts him and suggests that he purchase a paper. Rolf does so and begins to read about how Jonny's nose was discovered to house the lost city of Atlantis as he heads upstairs. At the top of the stairs, he encounters Jonny, who is excited about something else he read in the paper: apparently Kevin keeps the world's largest collection of spandex bike shorts under his bed. While Jonny yammers on, Rolf looks up the boy's nose and is perplexed when he finds only darkness and sesame seeds. This confusion is increased when Kevin angrily comes by and accuses Rolf of wanting to bulldoze his house in order to build a rest home for Nana. While Rolf looks over the article in the paper declaring this as his plan, an angry Nazz comes by dragging Jimmy behind her. Jimmy confesses that Sarah is in the bathroom, and Nazz goes in. Soon enough, a fight breaks out between Sarah and Nazz, culminating in Sarah slamming a car down on Nazz's head. A stray comment from Jonny about something in the paper is actually important, however, as the kids realize that their true enemies are not each other, but rather the mysterious "Bobby Blabby" and head towards the newsroom to seek vengeance (except for Jonny and Plank, who apparently like the tabloid).

In the newsroom, meanwhile, Ed has come back with a hat full of quarters. He puts them on the desk, and Eddy cheers, especially happy because he's already created tomorrow's headlines. Edd then walks in. Unlike his friends, Double D is glum, as his lead led nowhere, due to the failure of a knitting club to exist because of a lack of interest. When Eddy shows off the quarters, though, Double D is happy again, and mentions that the student fund's coffers will be enriched by the dough. It seems that all this time, Eddy was working for a nonprofit organization.

Of course, Eddy isn't one to give away money, so he tries to wrest the cap of cash from Edd's grasp. He is ultimately successful when the posse bursts through the door and grabs Edd, demanding to know the identity of Bobby Blabby. To assist them in this endeavor, they hold Double D over the printing press. Edd is as confused by this as anyone, however, and when he scans the paper he realizes that Bobby Blabby took over his paper. Of course, he knows who did it, and suggests that Eddy should tell the kids who Bobby Blabby is. Eddy isn't dumb enough to reveal the secret, though, and only suggests that this "Bobby Blabby" is a big jerk–only for Ed to mention that Bippy Boo-Boo dropped his hat, causing Eddy to yell at him that it's actually Bobby Blabby, inadvertently disclosing his secret newsman identity.

Soon things are set back to normal, with Edd printing ordinary papers about how Bobby Blabby tricked everyone and how the knitting club was finally formed with one member. This member is none other than Eddy, who was forced into the club by the other kids, who chose this as their form of revenge. To add insult to injury, Eddy has to knit the world's largest doily, a feat that Edd thinks sounds like a front pager and Ed thinks smells like a back-pager. It doesn't really matter, anyway, as even if Eddy hates doilies he still has to do it.

Ed: "Extra! Extra! Kids pelt Ed with can't-sell-school papers! Not a one."Eddy: [reading a random article] "'Jimmy Makes Shortcake'? I wouldn't line a birdcage with this bunk!"Edd: "I'll have you know Jimmy's shortcakes are the best I–" [He takes a newspaper to the face.]Eddy: "Where's the scandal?! That's what sells papers!Ed: [eating a sandal] "Yep. Because sandals are baked fresh daily, Double D."Eddy: [after a long pause] "Ignore him. Just stick to the script."

Ed: "Pick paper up! Pick paper up!"

Eddy: "Let's see what we got here." [choosing random words] "'Fork Boy Created'...I got tomorrow's headline, Ed! Fork Boy created in cooking class! Meatballs jabbed as teachers run for napkins! I like that."

Rolf: [reading an article about Jonny] "Jonny 2x4 forged into his nostrils and found the lost city of Atlantis yesterday!" [He looks up from his newspaper and spots Jonny.]Jonny: "Hey Rolf!" [He gets up and walks over to Rolf whist pointing to an article.] "Did you hear about Kevin having the worlds biggest collection of spandex bike shorts under his mattress?"[Rolf stretches Jonny's nostrils open wide so he can take a good look inside.]Rolf: "Rolf sees no city, only darkness and sesame seeds!"

[Eddy is forced to knit the world's largest doily.]Edd: "Sounds like a front pager."Ed: "Smells like a back pager."Eddy: "I hate doilies."

Trivia

Goofs:

Right after Eddy sends Edd to search for the knitting club, he tosses all of the old non-scandalous newspapers in the air. However, when they fall back down, you can see that they are all Eddy's scandalous newspapers, even though they had not been published yet.

When Eddy takes the picture of Ed after he hit the door, he isn't wearing his jacket, but when Ed reads the newspaper, the picture shows him wearing his﻿ jacket.

Did you spot the date on the school's printing press? AKA 1957 - 1957 is the year Danny Antonucci was born, and the AKA obviously refers to A.K.A. Cartoon, the shows production company.

The Volunteer Yearbook Club is run by Nurse Prowse, a reference to Ceile Prowse.

Eddy breaks the fourth wall by saying "Just stick to the script," referring to the episode's script.

When Jonny was reading the article about the knitting club being formed with only one member at the end of the episode, you can see another article entitled, "Pig Makes Top Mark on Test," with Jonny's huge head blocking the picture. Earlier in this episode, Rolf sent Wilfred into a test room, dressed up as Rolf, so that he could take Rolf's test in his place. This suggests that Wilfred got a better score than anyone else on that test.

An article in the paper at the end of the episode claims the principal had to take the bus after his car was mysteriously destroyed as well as a missing toilet seat. Sarah was the one who destroyed the principal's car and the toilet seat when she fought with Nazz.

In the scene right before Eddy reveals he is Bobby Blabby, there is a picture on the wall that says "Bobby Blabby" with a question mark over an outline of Eddy's head (making it look mysterious). This image is later used for the picture next to the "Bobby Blabby Tricked You" headline.

If you watch closely at the end, you can see a poster that says "Darn. Ain't this fun?" and has a ball of yarn.

When Rolf is reading the article about Jonny discovering Atlantis in his nose, the image used for Atlantis in the newspaper is actually the skyline of Vancouver, Canada, the location of A.K.A. Cartoon.

The use of the word "Tattler" in the school newspaper name is a tongue-and-cheek reference to journalism in general.

Jonny was the only person who liked reading about the scandals even after he was involved in one. Of course, it's possible that Jonny didn't see the story and so didn't know that he was one of the victims as well.

In the scene where Eddy whips up the title "Fork Boy Created" on the bulletin board, you can see a photo of the Kankers below it.

When Eddy sends Ed out to sell papers, there is a poster on the wall that says "Grad '74." This is most likely the year that the show's creator, Danny Antonucci, graduated high school as he would have been 17 years old at the time.

A sticky note on Bobby Blabby's desk can be seen with the name "Sherann" on it. Also, a paper with the name "Simon" on it can be seen too. This is a reference to Simon Piniel and Sherann Johnson, both storyboard artists at A.K.A. Cartoon.

When Eddy flings Ed across the Knitting Club Room, when you look at the window, it is raining outside, but at the beginning of the episode, it was not.

Gallery

Rolf picking players.

"Did we win?"

"What's with you?"

Edd and Eddy getting portraits done.

The PCJH Tattler newspaper articles: "Mrs. Smith Receives Fresh Apple," "Photocopier Repaired," and "Photocopier Still in Good Working Order."

A closer look at the PCJH Tattler articles.

Where's the scandal?

"...Jimmy's shortcakes are the best..."

Edd working for the school newspaper.

"Fork boy created in cooking class! Meatballs jabbed as teachers run for napkins!"